Matilda (1996)
May 5, 2003Gifted Child/Roald Dahl Adaptation
Danny DeVito directs an adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel with Mara Wilson as a mentally gifted child. In DeVito's hands, Roald Dahl's black bite overbalances into broad farce
Pam Ferris
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Jun 15, 2004Young Wizard
The third Harry Potter film where it seems all that it took for the series to become quite good was the exit of the perpetually banal Chris Columbus and the entry of a new director in Alfonso Cuaron
Children of Men (2006)
Oct 31, 2006Infertile Future
Alfonso Cuaron film set in a near-future afflicted by an epidemic of infertility. Cuaron’s depiction of a dystopian world comes with a richness of casually layered detail that makes for a stark and powerful film
Malice in Wonderland (2009)
Apr 11, 2022Modernised Alice in Wonderland
A modernised retelling of Alice in Wonderland in which Alice takes a colourfully surreal trip through an urban landscape and criminal underworld
Jackboots on Whitehall (2010)
Nov 1, 2012Nazis Invade England/Satiric Alternate History/Puppet Film
A puppet film about a satiric Nazi invasion of England in World War II. Imagine It Happened Here by way of Team America. This has its amusements but is uneven
The Raven (2012)
May 11, 2012Edgar Allan Poe vs a Serial Killer
This has the great idea of pitting Edgar Allan Poe against a serial killer imitating his stories but instead produces a desultory murder mystery that has done only the most cursory reading about Poe and is ill-informed about the historical period
Tolkien (2019)
Aug 2, 2019Fantasy Author Biopic
Biopic of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings. This covers many of the key areas of Tolkien's early life but you also cannot help but notice what it leaves out